Looking back at Country Thunder '16
The four-day Country Thunder music festival in Florence wrapped up Sunday. Average daily attendance topped 27,000 and the weather played its usual role: sunny and warm most of the time with a muddy soak on Sunday. Here's a look back at the shows and the scenes.
Big man in the house
Eric Church headlined the festival and closed it in grand, energetic fashion Sunday night. Hundreds of fans crushed up against the catwalk pushing hats and boots in his way in hopes of snagging a coveted autograph.
Kicking it all off
Newcomer Brooke Eden had the pleasure of being the first artist on the 2016 stage. Her lone single "Daddy's Money" proved to be a highlight.
Tucson crew
The backstage crew, the guys responsible for stage set up/tear down and equipment load in/load out, are all from Tucson.
Shower time
Opening night headliner Kip Moore wandered backstage Thursday afternoon looking for the artists showers. A Country Thunder employee came to his rescue.
Rocking the house
Freshly showered, Kip Moore took the opening night audience on a ride that set the bar high and the tempo on overdrive for the weekend.
Take in on back
Chase Bryant scored points for youthful enthusiasm and catchy songs.
Bring on the rain
On Thursday night, Old Dominion lead singer Matthew Ramsey was a few words into "Save It For A Rainy Day" — a song he and his bandmates wrote that Kenny Chesney recorded — when it started raining. A woman near the front of the stage shouted, "Matthew Ramsey, you're a rainmaker!"
Telling tall tales
Tucson-based internet personality Jessica Northey, center, hangs out in the artists' lounge back stage with KIIM 99.5 FM radio personality Shannon Black, right, and members of Old Dominion.
Smoked turkey legs
Where there's four days of country music and thousands of fans, expect to find someone smoking up some giant turkey legs. Tommy Montoya from Casa Grande hauled out hi's 40-foot wood smoker crafted from an old pump trailer. Montoya operated four food stands in the food court area over the weekend including a lemonade stand and a burger and fries trailer.
Getting all tropical on us
Jake Owen had faux palm trees and a makeshift bar on his set when he headlined Friday Saturday night. We're thinking the setup fit perfectly with his songs "Beachin'" and "Summer Jam."
Eye candy
Jake Owen sings about "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" and being the "Life of the Party," but last Friday night, the women in his Country Thunder audience didn't care if he sang a word so long as he strolled the catwalk and shot them his million-dollar smile.
Sunny debut
California country singer Cam debuted at Country Thunder last Saturday night. Her debut single "Burning House" was a highlight.
Rapping country
Florida Georgia Line — from left, Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard — brought a taste of country rap to the stage as the headliners last Saturday night.
Many faces of Florida Georgia Line
This is what their show looked like in collage mode.
Metal country
Cadillac 3 frontman Jaren Johnston made no apologies when his hard-rocking Tennessee trio took the Country Thunder stage last Friday evening. "We're a heavy metal country band," he shouted, and from the applause from the crowd of thousands, there was nothing wrong with that.
Sunday afternoon downpour
There are a few things you can count on to happen at Country Thunder, and one of them is rain. For a little more than an hour last Sunday afternoon, it poured in Florence, turning the Country Thunder West festival grounds into a soggy mess.
LoCash encore
In case you missed Preston Brust and Chris Lucas when LoCash at Country Thunder last Saturday, you can catch them again when they play the Pima County Fair on April 23.
Mick Jagger swagger
Chris Janson was all spindly legs and flailing arms when he hit the stage at Country Thunder in April. He rocked a cool Mick Jagger swagger before settling in a bit, performing a heartfelt, persuasive tribute to the late Merle Haggard.
Dressed up for rain
The Country Thunder stage was draped with plastic covers Sunday to protect equipment from the rain, but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits — pardon the dripping pun — of Texas singer Casey Donahew. The rain dealt one blow to the festival lineup Sunday: Nashville newcomer Courtney Cole was dropped from her opening day slot.
Thousand reasons why
A Thousand Horses made its festival debut and leads singer Michael Hobby and the band gave us 1,000 reasons to fall in love with their Southern-rock kissed music beyond their debut single "Smoke."
Rockin' with Cole
Cole Swindell warmed up the stage for Saturday night headliners Florida Georgia Line, but his show could easily have held the headliner slot. Maybe next time.
Meet and greet
Cole Swindell met with fans before taking the stage last Saturday. One of the highlights for country fans is to win a backstage pass to a meet-and-greet, a chance to get a picture with their favorite artist.
Putting on the ritz
Country newcomer Brooke Eden, left, and KIIM 99.5 FM morning show personality Shannon Black put on lipstick before an interview backstage last Thursday.
Arizona holiday
Randy Houser arrived at Country Thunder days before he opened for Sunday night headliner Eric Church. It's not surprising: Houser has some Arizona ties, including spending time in Tucson last summer to film the video for his single "We Went." Shooting locations included Hotel Congress, Saint Augustine Cathedral and Casino Del Sol Resort and Casino.
Can I get a yee-haw
Eric Church promised he would play as long as the festival organizers let him last Sunday night. That turned out to be just about 90 minutes.
Pulling out
Eric Church was still on stage when the big tour buses backstage started loading up and pulling out from the muddy festival grounds.
Average daily attendance was 29,000, organizers said.
Four-day festival passes on sale now.
Talk about your grand finales: Church and crowd don't let a little mud spoil final day of Country Thunder.
From buzz band to big stage, Nashville Southern country rockers are big hit on festival's final day.
The backstage boys from Old Pueblo have been minding and mending the stage since the festival's early days.
Janson, Owen remember the legendary outlaw country artist.
Sun is blazing and folks are chillin' until things really get started.
The music gets loud as Country Thunder brings out its rocking side.
Cadillac 3 frontman Jaren Johnston made no apologies when he and bandmates Kelby Ray and Neil Mason took the stage at Country Thunder Friday night.
In freaky feat of timing, sprinkles follow song about rain.
Nashville songwriter gets a turn at the mic.
Chase Bryant warms up the stage for Old Dominion, headliner Kip Moore.